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She pushed open the squealing front door and strode inside, her heels clacking like thunder in the nearly empty winery.
“I’m just getting set up,” a voice called from the tasting counter. “I’ll be right… oh, hey Alanna.” Jax looked up from a row of bottles she was setting out. “First customer of the day, congrats. What can I get you?”
“Sadly, I’m going to have to pass on the wine,” Alanna replied. “Is Theo around?”
Jax pulled the lollipop from her mouth. “Theo!” she called into the back. “There’s a woman on a mission looking for you.”
A moment later, Theo popped his head out from the back and did a double take. “Alanna. I thought you were in Los Angeles.”
“Change of plans,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I have a business proposal for you.”
“Me?” Theo glanced over his shoulder, as if there might possibly be another Theo standing behind him.
“Can we speak somewhere privately?” Alanna asked.
“Um…” Theo looked to Jax for an explanation.
The young woman shrugged. “If it were me, I wouldn’t say no to her.”
Good girl.Alanna made a note to suggest a raise for Jax in the near future.
“Come on in the back, I guess,” Theo said, obviously dubious.
Without missing a beat, Alanna moved around the tasting counter and strolled into the back room of the winery, giving Jax a nod of appreciation as she passed. While waiting for Theo to join her, Alanna looked around at the shelves filled with massive casks of wine. There was a quiet beauty in this space. She could almost feel the power of the wine, slowly fermenting within the barrels. Too bad it all had to change.
Theo joined Alanna in the back area and gazed at her with wary brown eyes. He put a hand on one of the barrels as if he could absorb strength from the aged wood. She noticed a hole in the elbow of his beige, long-sleeve shirt. Typical Theo. If it didn’t involve grapes, tannins, or flavor profiles, he didn’t even notice it existed.
Well, Alanna could try and save the winery. Someone else would have to help Theo save himself. She wasn’t Mother Teresa, after all.
“I’m not arbitrating a cat custody appeal, so don’t even ask,” Theo said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Alanna rolled her eyes. “You quit in the middle of the case, so, no, I’d say you don’t have a future as an arbitrator.”
“What’s this about, then?” Theo leaned against the wine barrel and crossed his scuffed boots.
“I’ve decided to represent you through my PR firm, New Horizons,” Alanna announced. “Congratulations.”
“Represent me?” Theo shook his head. “What the hell is going on today?”
“I’m your new public relations representative,” Alanna clarified. “And I’m going to throw in some business consulting, too, because, God, this place needs it.”
Theo laughed, a weary sound. Alanna remembered when Theo’s laugh had been as warm as the California sunshine overhead while they picked grapes together in the vineyards. That’d been before the death of his father. And before he’d dropped out of college to take the helm of the winery.
“Public relations?” Theo said now. “Sure, sounds great, but I’m not exactly swimming in money here. Or are you willing to work for wine?”
It was a tempting offer, but money. She definitely needed money. “No bartering,” she said. “And I’m expensive.”
“I’m sure you’re worth every penny, which is why I definitely can’t afford you.” A look of exhaustion crossed Theo’s handsome face, aging him well past his 29 years. “Hell, I can’t afford myself. I’m paying Jax shit, and I’m pretty sure she only puts up with it because she feels sorry for me.”
“Well, then today is your lucky day,” Alanna told him, “because the first three months of my services are free. We’re going to clean this place up, fix whatever you can afford to, then do a grand reopening of The Rose and Thorn.”
Theo made a choking noise, which was a bit rude in Alanna’s opinion.
She fixed Theo with her most badass stare. “Theo, you make good wine. The best in Southern California in my opinion, but you’re shit at business.”
Theo pulled both hands down his face. “What is happening?” he muttered, then looked at her. “Is this seriously how you’re pitching your services?”
“It’s true,” Alanna said. “And you know it.”
